[78-L] "Value" of 78s

[David Lennick]

Nevertheless! (To quote Prof. Irwin Corey)

I wish I had a pound of halvah for everyone who's looked at my collection and 
said "You have a fortune here!" If I were to start listing my collection on 
eBay I'd spend a lifetime trying to unload stuff that just isn't worth more 
than a dollar a disc. If I have unique items and I don't have any need for 
them, I've done better trading them to Kurt Nauck than trying to sell them at 
record shows or the auction tables at CAPS meetings. A collection that has been 
carefully chosen can have pricey items in it and be valuable and insurable, but 
a collection can also have meaning to its owner and to nobody else.

Five or six years ago, I bought great classical album sets at something like 3 
discs for a dollar from a college library that needed the space. Near mint, 
many of them from a Carnegie Collection. A year or so before that, a few 
collectors including at least 2 on this list made treks to Syracuse because 
there was a house full of records, 95% classical, accumulated over a lifetime, 
and the house's new owner and Yale University and Kurt Nauck had taken what 
they wanted and we were told to take as much as our shock absorbers could handle.

Mmmmm....halvah....

dl


Taylor Bowie wrote:
> As per usual,  Mr.  Barr seems fixated on the idea that 78s are worth "about 
> $1 each (or less)."  I"m not sure why this concept is so important to him, 
> as in fact it is simply not true.   The fact that he buys tons of material 
> for pennies does not take anything away from the ongoing market for better 
> 78s,  of which there are many in all categories which routinely sell for 
> many times one dollar.
> 
> There is lots of cheap crap in every field of "collectable" material, 
> including records,  books,  art,  antiques,  etc. etc.  In no case is the 
> general value of material defined by the lowest common denominator,  as Mr. 
> Barr insists on doing with records.
> 
> I could put together a small collection of 18th century books,  none of 
> which would be worth more than $5 or $10 each.  But I would never say that 
> "18th century books are worth $5 to $10."
> 
> I don't collect with any interest in the "investment" factor,  but because I 
> enjoy listening to the music,  studying the artists,  and learning about the 
> times and the circumstances when the records were made.
> 
> 
> Taylor
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Steven C. Barr" <stevenc at interlinks.net>
> To: "78-L Mail List" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
> Sent: Friday, February 12, 2010 6:20 PM
> Subject: [78-L] There ain't no sanity clause...?!
> 
> 
>> Okeh...the purpose of this post is to start (1) some serious 
>> thinking...and
>> (2) some serious discussion...?!
>>
>> All (AFAIK) of us here on 78-L are active collectors of (very) old 78 rpm
>> phonorecords. We spend as much (or, in my most recent case, MORE than?!)
>> as we can afford to acquire these ancient artifacts...and/or related
>> artifacts
>> thereunto...! We also spend large sums on devices which will actually
>> RETRIEVE the sounds which they contain! Further, we send out MANY
>> e-mail messages concerning these artifacts (thus keeping 78-L alive...?!)!
>>
>> Now, unlike many other collectible artifacts, 78rpm phonorecords are
>> NOT promising investments; while the motor cars I once owned (1951
>> Cadillac 60 Special--1966 Mustang convertible) have 100-tupled
>> their initial value, "78's" are still worth about $1 each (or less?!). 
>> Yet,
>> we (and especially *I*) continue to acquire the dommed things...?!
>>
>> Admittedly, most of the content is only available to be heard to-day
>> via the original "78"...BUT a 78 can only provide two or three minutes
>> of "listening pleasure"...?!
>>
>> For our resident classical-music aficianados, there is a further issue;
>> classical records primarily exist in "album set" form, requiring the
>> listener to rise and change the record every 3-5 minutes...?!
>>
>> SO...why do we all have this illogical fascination?!
>>
>> NO prize for "best answer"...I was just wonderin'...?!
>>
>> Steven C. Barr
>>